


The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

by the_technicolor_whiscash



Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Polyamory, flower shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 07:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13118934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_technicolor_whiscash/pseuds/the_technicolor_whiscash
Summary: Kinga and Max run a flower shop. Jonah is the cute new customer looking for flowers. Romance ensues.





	The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [speccygeekgrrl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/gifts).



> I actually love this ship, but I’ve never written for it because I’ve never written for an ot3 before. Hope this is good!

Kinga gazed out the large window of the shop, sighing deeply. “Why do we even stay open during the winter?”

“Because.” Max said from behind her. “Sometimes, people want to buy flowers to brighten up a room in winter. Helps with the seasonal depression, I think. At least, that’s what I tell customers.”

“But we barely have any business, and we’re still paying for inventory.”

“Well, there’s still weddings and funerals that need flowers. That’s always reliable business.” 

“But people always want the same things for funerals and weddings. It gets boring. Maybe we should start an online service.”

“If you want to make a website and handle the shipping and handling, feel free.” 

“When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound like fun.”

“Oh, I’m sure it would be. We’d just need some more employees.” Max approached Kinga, putting his arms around her. “Once that happens, I’m sure an online business would work perfectly.”

“Mm.” She mused, laying her head on his shoulder. “Winter’s always so dreary before it starts to snow. And after it starts to snow. I don’t like winter.” 

“It’s not so bad. And besides, it isn’t even really winter yet. Technically it’s still late fall.”

“Then I don’t like late fall through winter.”

“Come on. At least you have the holidays to look foreword to. You get to see your dad, and I get to see my dad, and we get to watch your grandmother and her friends do something weird.”

“Good point. Grandma Pearl and the gang do always seem to do something odd on Christmas.”

“Remember that time Bobo accidentally lit the tree on fire?”

“How could I forget that fiasco. What a mess.” 

Suddenly, the bell on the door rung, alerting them to a customer. Quickly, Kinga sprang into action, taking her spot behind the cash register. 

The man who had entered the store was someone that Kinga had never seen before. He seemed about her age, and looked like he had practically run to the shop, since he was flushed and out of breath. His dark hair was mashed under a glittery Santa hat, that Kinga couldn’t help but smile at. He was kind of cute, she wouldn’t deny that. But the only reason why someone comes running into a flower shop is because of a romantic emergency. 

“Hi.” He said, panting. “I need some flowers.”

“Well, that does tend to be why someone comes into a flower shop.” Kinga smiled cheekily. “What can I get ya?”

“What do you have for a ‘sorry I killed your fish while I was supposed to be petsitting’ sort of situation?”

“Ooh. That’s a tough one. Max, you’re our flower professional here, help him out.”

Max pondered for a moment. “Well, purple hyacinth usually asks for forgiveness. I can make you up something nice. It’ll just be a minute.” He disappeared into the back room, and quickly reappeared with a fine bouquet of flowers. “The perfect thing for your fishy homicide.”

The man frowned. “Hey, technically, it would be considered manslaughter. I didn’t mean to kill it! It just sort of died!”

Kinga raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you just buy one that looked exactly like it, and say that nothing happened?”

“I… that probably would have been a good idea. But I’ve already committed to the flowers, so I’m not gonna go back on that.”

“That’s fair.” Kinga said, while ringing him up. “So, petsitting gone wrong. That sounds like an interesting time.”

“Trust me, it was. They have four cats and somehow I managed to kill the only fish they had.”

“You think one of the cats might’ve eaten it?”

His eyes widened. “Damnit. That could be it. Thanks, uh…”

“Kinga.” She held out her hand, and he shook it. “And my partner over there is Max.”

Max waved from behind an elaborate rose bouquet someone had ordered for their anniversary. 

“Well, thank you, Kinga and Max. I’m Jonah, by the way. I’ll make sure to come in here for all of my fish-related emergencies.”

“Please do.” 

Jonah left on his way, the bell on the door signaling his exit. Kinga sat down on the stool behind the counter and sighed. 

“He was cute, wasn’t he?” Max said, peeking his head around the massive bouquet. 

“Yeah, he was. I wonder if he’ll ever actually come back here.”

“I hope so.”

\------------

Jonah did indeed appear, several days later. This time, he was dressed in a suit, looking slightly like he had gotten lost at an office party. 

“I need something, and fast.” 

“Another fish emergency?” Kinga said, raising an eyebrow.

“Ha. No, nothing fishy this time. I need something that says ‘I didn’t realize it was your birthday and I have nothing to get you so here’s some flowers.’”

“Max? Can you help him?”

Max popped his head out of the back room. “Narcissus and holly are the birth flowers for December. I can throw something together for you.” 

“Thank you.” Jonah sighed, leaning on the counter. “You guys are saving my ass.”

Kinga smiled. “So whose birthday is it?”

“A cousin of mine. It’s at a nice restaurant too, and my whole family’ll be there.”

“Sounds like loads of fun.”

“It’s a nightmare. Everyone’s always asking me, ‘Jonah, when are you gonna get married?’ Or ‘Jonah, do you have a girlfriend yet?’”

That brought a question to her mind. Part of her didn’t want to intrude, but Jonah seemed like he probably wouldn’t mind. “And do you?”

“Nah. No girlfriend, boyfriend, or otherwise. I work at the Gizmonic Institute, so I don’t have that much free time.” Was Kinga imagining it, or was Jonah blushing? “I mean, it’s not like I don’t want someone. Things just haven’t fallen into place for me.”

“I know the feeling. But I’m sure you’ll find someone. You seem like a nice guy.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Max appeared, holding a bouquet of narcissus and holly. “Simple, yet still gets your point across.”

“Thank you guys again. You’re a real lifesaver.”

Kinga rang him up, and then added, “Hey, we’re here whenever you need us for any of your flower-related emergencies. Or anything else you might need.”

“I really appreciate it.” He checked his watch. “I’ve gotta run. I guess I’ll be seeing you.”

“Catch you later.”

The second he was out the door, Max sighed. “Well, I’m officially in love.”

“We’ve only known him for like, four minutes.”

“Come on. I know you’re into him too.” 

“I mean, yeah. But we don’t really know him. What if he’s actually an asshole?”

“Look at that man and try to tell me that he could be an asshole.”

Kinga smiled slightly. “Alright. You’ve got me. He looks like the sweetest man in the world.”

“I thought I held that title.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. He’s the second sweetest man in the world.” 

“Aw, thanks hon.” 

“So should we ask him out? I mean, we’re both into him.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea. Where do you think we should take him?”

“Hmm… how about the zoo?”

“It’s settled then. We will ask Jonah whatever-his-last-name-is on a date to the zoo.” Max grinned. “I’m excited. This is gonna be fun.”

“If he accepts. We don’t even know if he will. And we don’t know if he’ll even come back into the store. We might never see him again.”

“We will. He’ll come back, and he’ll accept.”

“How are you so confident about this?”

“Just trying to keep up hope. Now, I’ve gotta go finish up another birthday order.” 

He disappeared into the back room, and Kinga was left to think about all that just happened. Though she would never admit it, she had developed quite an affection for this Jonah guy. Hopefully it would amount to something. Hopefully. 

——————

Rain pattered against the windows of the flower shop, nearly lulling Kinga to sleep. Business had slowed immensely, which was expected considering the weather. No one wants to buy flowers when it’s pouring out. Nonetheless, Max was working diligently in the back room on orders due in a few days. 

Eventually deciding that she was tired of being bored out of her skull, Kinga decided to join him in the back. “Hey.”

“What’s up? Do we have a customer?”

“Ha. I wish.” She sat down in a swivel chair and began aimlessly spinning around. “Why don’t we just go on vacation during the winter? Close up shop, take a plane, fly somewhere nice and warm? Maybe… I don’t know, spend a month at Disney?” 

“Because that would be incredibly expensive. Plus, we’re pretty much the only flower shop in a hundred miles. Where will everyone get the flowers for their weddings?”

“The internet.”

Max sighed. “Alright. Well, they’re fresher when you get them from a flower shop. And it’s not like we don’t get any business at all.” 

“We have a little bit, here and there. Come on, Max. Don’t you want to get out, travel, see the world?”

“Of course I do. But closing up the shop would take a long time. We’d have to deal with all of our flowers in storage, and inform all of our regulars, and have someone come by periodically to check up on things-“

“Alright.” She interrupted. “I get it.” 

He put down the flowers he had been arranging and went up to her, cupping her face in his hand. “Honey, trust me, if we didn’t have to deal with the shop, I would leave in a heartbeat. I’ve always wanted to do a cross-country road trip. Maybe we can plan something out and go next winter.”

She sighed. “But that’s so far away. Who knows where we’ll be in a year?”

“Who knows where we’ll be in a month? A day? At least if we make plans for next winter, it’ll give us something to look foreword to.”

“You’re probably right. I just hate being cooped up here all winter.”

“I know you do.” 

The bell on the door rang, shattering the moment. 

“Hello?” The voice of Jonah said, alerting them to his presence. “Anyone here?” 

Kinga gave Max a quick peck on the cheek before heading into the main store. “Sorry, we were in the back.” She eyed Jonah. “Geez, you’re soaked.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I kind of got caught in the rain. Guess I picked the wrong day to walk home from work.”

“Well, we can’t risk you catching a cold. Come on into the back. I’m sure we have a towel somewhere.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

She led him into the back room, and Max grinned upon seeing them enter. 

“Hi, Jonah. How’s it going?”

“Oh, I’ve had better days.”

Kinga searched through some drawers, eventually coming upon a towel. “Here we are. And hey, at least it isn’t snowing.”

Jonah raised a brow as he toweled off his hair. “Snow’s not so bad.”

“It is when you have to shovel out the parking lot.”

“At least it’s pretty. Winter’s so dreary before it snows.”

“Well, I can’t deny that.” She found herself staring at his gently tousled hair. It was adorable. 

Max elbowed her in the side, pulling her out of her daze. “Jonah, Kinga wants to ask you something.”

Kinga felt herself turning pink. “I, uh, _we_ wanted to know if you were busy Saturday.”

Jonah looked confused, but nodded. “I’m free. Why?”

“Because Max and I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date. With us. To the zoo.”

His expression grew from confusion to realization. “Seriously?”

“Yes. Seriously. Because you’re adorable, and we both really like you. If it makes you uncomfortable–“

“No, no,” He was starting to turn pink too. “It’s just been so long since anyone’s asked me on a date! I’d love to go out with you guys, if you’ll have me.”

—————

Their trip to the zoo was incredibly successful. By the end of the day, they had all invested in fuzzy animal-shaped hats, and retired back to Kinga and Max’s shared apartment. Kinga found herself with Jonah’s arm around her on the couch, with Max on his other side. 

“So.” Jonah said with a smile. “I guess we’re dating now.”

“I guess we are.” Kinga replied, snuggling deeper into the crook of his arm.

“You guys wanna come to my family’s Christmas dinner? I’m sure they’d like you both.”

“Sure.” Max said. “A chance for free food in exchange for meeting the family? We’ll be there.”

“But,” Kinga added, “you’ll have to come to our family’s dinner then too. And I’m warning you now, our family is weird.”

Jonah raised an eyebrow. “What kind of weird?”

“My grandmother and my dad are both evil scientists, and my grandmother is never seen without her two best friends. One of them is an Observer who carries his brain in a bowl, and the other is a Planet of the Apes-esque gorilla man.”

“You’re right, that is kind of weird. But I’m sure I can handle it. I see a lot of weird stuff go on at Gizmonic. My mentor was the father of four robots.”

“Wait, seriously? I think I know him. Was he a janitor?”

“Yeah, he was! He teaches robotics now.”

“Wow. My dad hated that guy. I guess it really is a small world.” Kinga felt his fingers gently card through her hair. 

“It is. I’m glad that small world brought us together.”

“I am too.”

Kinga closed her eyes, feeling the comforting rise and fall of Jonah’s chest. Suddenly, she heard a loud snore, evicting a smile from her face. 

“Is Max asleep?” She asked. 

“Yeah. He’s cute when he sleeps.”

“Very true. And he always gets up earlier than I do and makes breakfast. I love him.”

“Oh man. You guys are the best.”

“I like to think we are. And I can already tell that you’re bringing some excellent snuggling into the relationship.”

“I’m glad. I really like spending time with you guys.”

“I like spending time with you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays!


End file.
